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The Pulse of Asia : vol.1 |
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of ancient towns. I do not think so, however, because
extended observation has convinced me that sand rarely en-
croaches upon a region until after a decrease in the water
supply has caused the death of vegetation. In the Kenan
legend it is distinctly stated that the amount of water dimin-
ished. The villagers said to me, "You see, what happened
to Kenan long ago was like what happened to Dumuka in
the days of our fathers. The river dried up."
From Malakalagan I struck a little north of east across
the desert to the Keriya River. The first day, our way led
through the peculiar scenery characteristic of the parts of
the zone of vegetation where the water supply has decreased,
whether it be on the edge of the zone near the mountains,
or, as is much more common, the remoter border near the
sands of Takla-Makan. Steep-sided mounds, twenty or
thirty feet high, were scattered over the plain so thickly
that we had to wind hither and thither through the narrow-
est of passages. Rarely could we see more than three hun-
dred feet in any direction, and often only fifty. Through the
veil of sand shrouding the sides of the mounds, we perceived
that their lower half was composed of stratified river silts
full of the gnarled roots and underground stems of ancient
tamarisks, while the upper half consisted of fine sand de-
posited by the wind and kept in place by the upper parts
of the tamarisk bushes which projected from the tops.
Sometimes the feathery bushes were gray-green and flour-
ishing, with sweet-scented spikes of minute purple flowers,
but oftener they were wholly dead, or had already shed the
small stiff spines which serve as leaves. At the bottom of
the mounds, one was in a maze of sandy slopes, dead tam-
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